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Boat Safety Scheme Certificates

Issue date: 3rd April 2013

After 31st March 2013, boat owners will no longer need to send off the blue copy of their Boat Safety Scheme (BSS) Certificate to navigation authorities. This is because recording process has moved into a central online database system with direct input from Boat Safety Scheme examiners. After a successful boat examination, the owner will get a copy of a new, receipt-style certificate, called a BSS Examination Report, to keep for their own records. The change has been made possible because most navigation authorities, including IWA’s subsidiary company Essex Waterways Ltd, now have access to the BSS central database where they can check the boat’s certification details and expiry date.

The change allows BSS examiners to provide directly the new-look certificates either as electronic files, or printed on plain paper in black ink. The new-look certificate, or BSS Examination Report, may include any failure notifications and advisory information, combined in one multi-page document. Existing BSS Certificates will continue to remain valid until reaching the expiry date. Boat owners should continue to pass on the BSS certification information from their boat file to the new owner if the craft is sold on. BSS examination data is already held on a central database and authorised BSS Examiners have been inputting in to this for over two years. It holds only examination and boat data, no owner or personal information is included. A guide to the new-look certificate is available on the BSS website.